Records of ex-Gov. Howard Dean opened after 10 years

Boxes of documents become public under agreement between former presidential candidate and Secretary of State's Office

Jan. 10, 2013

In this August 2003 file photo, then-state archivist Greg Sanford looks through the publicly accessible records of former Gov. Howard Dean. Ten years after Dean left office, his records are being made public. About 90 boxes became available for public inspection Thursday. / AP file

Gov. Peter Shumlin, left, jokes with former Gov. Howard Dean on Thursday in Montpelier. Dean's records from his 12 years in office became public Thursday. / Toby Talbot/AP

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MIDDLESEX — File folders full of letters and faxes to then-Gov. Howard Dean’s office regarding the issue of same-sex marriage and other materials from the former presidential candidate’s 12 years as Vermont’s chief executive are now open to the public.

Dean’s agreement with the Secretary of State’s Office to seal the records for 10 years when he was preparing to launch a campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination sparked a long legal battle involving access to the materials.

The state Supreme Court ruled in 2005, after his failed bid for the presidency, that he could seal the collection and 80 boxes of documents and correspondence remained closed to the public until now: 10 years after Dean left office on Jan. 10, 2003.

“There are lots of big topics here,” said Scott Reilly, a state archivist who spent much of the past six months arranging the records in preparation for their being opened to visitors at the Vermont state archives in Middlesex.

“As you look through the records, you’ll see his handwritten notes on certain things, directions to people on how to respond. It’s amazing just the breadth of issues the governor’s office deals with,” Reilly said.

The letters and faxes poured in shortly after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in December 1999 that the state had to find some mechanism to give same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

Most of the documents praised the decision. A separate tally sheet kept by people answering the phones in Dean’s office showed 433 in favor of the ruling with four opposed.

But despite strong support for what came to be known as civil unions, the state Supreme Court’s ruling provoked one of the most bitter public-policy debates the state had ever seen.

On July 1, 2000, Vermont recognized civil unions, a term coined by the state lawmakers crafting the law. Just days before the law was to take effect, Dean wrote a letter to the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which serves Catholics for the entire state.

Dean asked then-Bishop Kenneth Angell, a vigorous opponent of civil unions, to join him and work to keep the debate civil.

“There have been an increasing number of incidents in Vermont where gay and lesbian people have been the targets of deeply wounding personal attacks and epithets. I am increasingly concerned as feelings on this controversial issue become more intense,” Dean wrote June 27, 2000.

Angell agreed.

“As you know, Governor, the Roman Catholic Church has itself endured centuries of hatred, intolerance, and indeed, persecution,” Angell responded the next day. “Hence, you will never have to ask us to promote peace and loving acceptance of all children of God, no matter how much we may disagree with their beliefs.”

Since Vermont legally recognized civil unions, it and eight other states expanded their laws to allow same-sex marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.